Service type Superfast Predecessor Imperial Mail Start Howrah | Status Operating Current operator(s) Eastern Railways | |
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Locale Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand & West Bengal | ||
The Imperial Indian Mail was a train from Bombay to Calcutta during the British Raj. The train was a part of a maritime rail system that carried mail and passengers from London to Calcutta (and on to Rangoon) by a mix of ships and trains. Passengers traveled by train from London to Brindisi in Italy. Then by boat from Brindisi to Bombay's Ballard Pier where they could directly board the Imperial India Mail for a 40-hour journey to Howrah. Passengers heading to Rangoon could transfer to a steamer after a short boat ride from the rail station at Howrah to the pier at Outram Ghat.
Contents
The train was featured in a 1939 film of the same title starring Noor Jehan and Gulzar. In E. M. Forster's novel, A Passage to India, the train that Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested took to get to Chandrapore was, most likely, the Imperial Indian Mail.
Current Status
The train now runs in India as the 12321 Howrah Mumbai Mail and 12322 Mumbai Howrah Mail and follows the original route from Mumbai to Kolkata via Allahabad despite the existence of a much shorter direct route across the Central Indian plains. The important cities on this route are Kalyan, Nasik Road (For Nasik), Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Khandwa, Jabalpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Gaya, Dhanbad, Asansol and Durgapur.
In a recent move by Indian Railways, from 2 April 2016 this train will be by-passing Allahabad & instead have halt at Chheoki, which is outskirts of Allahabad City.
Traction
A Bhusaval or Itarsi based WAP-4 locomotive hauls the train from Mumbai CST to Itarsi after which an Itarsi-based WDP-4 or WDP-4B locomotive hauls the train until Allahabad. From Allahabad, a Howrah or Mughalsarai based WAP-4 hauls the train for the remainder of its journey until Howrah.
Before 6 June 2015, this train was used to be hauled by a Kalyan-based WCAM 3 locomotive from Mumbai CST to Igatpuri.